Trump Says Ukraine-Russia Talks ‘Coming To A Head’, US May ‘Take A Pass’ If There’s No Progress

<p>United President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Russia and Ukraine were &ldquo;coming to a head&rdquo; and warned that Washington could withdraw from peace efforts if the warring sides fail to make swift progress.</p>
<p>Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump stressed that neither Moscow nor Kyiv was &ldquo;playing&rdquo; him in his push to end the prolonged conflict. &ldquo;If for some reason one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we&rsquo;re going to say you&rsquo;re fools, you&rsquo;re foolish, and we&rsquo;re just going to take a pass,&rdquo; he said, as per news agency AP.</p>
<p>Trump&rsquo;s remarks came shortly after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, addressing the media in Paris, said the United States may &ldquo;move on&rdquo; from the peace initiative unless developments occur in the coming days. &ldquo;We are now reaching a point where we need to decide whether this is even possible or not,&rdquo; Rubio stated, referring to the peace talks. &ldquo;Because if it&rsquo;s not, then I think we&rsquo;re just going to move on. It&rsquo;s not our war. We have other priorities to focus on.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Rubio added that the Biden administration wanted to make that determination &ldquo;in a matter of days.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Despite months of unsuccessful diplomatic engagement, Thursday&rsquo;s Paris talks between US, Ukrainian and European officials appeared to produce some progress. A new round of discussions is expected next week in London, which Rubio hinted could be decisive in determining future American involvement.</p>
<p>The Secretary of State&rsquo;s remarks increased pressure on both sides, even as Washington and Kyiv advanced negotiations on a long-delayed minerals deal &mdash; an effort reportedly linked to Trump&rsquo;s broader peace strategy. On Thursday, Trump said, &ldquo;We have a minerals deal.&rdquo; Ukraine&rsquo;s economy minister confirmed Friday that a memorandum of intent had been signed ahead of a potential full agreement.</p>
<p>In Rome, US Vice President JD Vance adopted a more optimistic tone ahead of a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. &ldquo;We think we have some interesting things to report on, of course in private,&rdquo; Vance said. &ldquo;I won&rsquo;t prejudge them, but we do feel optimistic that we can hopefully bring this war, this very brutal war, to a close.&rdquo;</p>
<p>According to AFP, Trump reiterated that the US would &ldquo;take a pass&rdquo; on mediating further talks unless Russia and Ukraine showed tangible signs of moving towards peace. He said there was no fixed deadline, but progress was expected &ldquo;very shortly.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was stalling negotiations, Trump responded, &ldquo;I hope not.&rdquo; He further denied any suggestion that he was being manipulated by Putin. &ldquo;Nobody&rsquo;s playing me, I&rsquo;m trying to help,&rdquo; he stated.</p>
<p>Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, reacting to Rubio&rsquo;s remarks, said that &ldquo;fairly complex&rdquo; negotiations were still underway. While he gave no details, Peskov affirmed, &ldquo;Russia is striving toward resolving this conflict, securing its own interests, and is open to dialogue. We are continuing to do this.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Ukraine has reportedly agreed to a temporary ceasefire but accused Russia of delaying a final agreement in an attempt to secure a stronger negotiating position.</p>
<p>Trump previously claimed he could end the war in 24 hours if re-elected, but admitted last month he was &ldquo;being a little bit sarcastic&rdquo; in making that statement.</p>